What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

I find it funny that rear light brightness matters,

I've got text on my rear view mirrors that read "Objects appearing in this mirror no longer matter"

;-)

 

I've got the factory bed step and use it often! Saves a ton of "risk".

 

Added a lightbar.

 

It helps to make the inside of the vehicle behind you glow when you hit your brakes at night and the moron is looking at their phone or whatever... lol

I can see where I am going as well as the on coming traffic with the basic front lights, but I really want the ones behind me to know I am there, and the brighter lights help to make that happen... And the crazy brighter amber (instead of red) turn signals will get the drivers attention also...

Plus the Vtails use all 4 tail/brake lights on top of the much brighter LEDs vs just using 2 much dimmer incandescent bulbs to help alert the ones not paying as close attention as they should...

I have yet heard anyone not happy with the VTAILs after installing them (correctly)...

 

My Gen 1 Taco was totaled in January because a visitor to our islands ran into me. Owned it since new. Loved that analog truck.

I am now very paranoid of inattentive drivers.

So, with my 3rd gen Taco, I've replaced the halogen rear lights with bright LEDs (brake, turn, and tail/parking). I've also installed the OPT7 light bar. I'm hoping the more visible lights will catch the driver's attention and help prevent an accident.

Here's a vid of a recent horrific accident here. The driver who caused the accident didn't slow down or step on the brakes. Plowed straight into the stopped vehicle. This is similar to what happened to me but not as severe as you'll see in the video.

Let's all be careful, attentive, and drive with aloha.

 

Over the last week I’ve fully refreshed my rig. I’d been running a BAKflip trifold tonneau w/ full MOLLE panels in the bed w/ all my gear secured. The bedside MOLLE panels were specific to the lowered bedrails that the BAKflip required for installation, so they had to be removed as the bedrack requires the OEM bedrail position. I may add new bedside MOLLE panels at some point because I like the storage factor they provide, but not a huge priority. The cab wall MOLLE stays, which is where I have my Rotopax mounted. I also just swapped out two large MOLLE pouches that were secure under the BAKflip tonneau for a large lockable Pelican-style waterproof box. The MOLLE pouches are fine for a while but the fabric MOLLE straps paired w/ metal MOLLE panels aren’t a good combo; they’re quite difficult to weave correctly onto metal plus the straps wear quickly on the metal causing them to tear. You’re MUCH better off bolting waterproof cases to the panels.

On the bed rack I added a rooftop tent after favoring my Gazelle hub tent for several years. The Gazelle is great & sets up in just a minute or so, but I decided I just wanted better sleep while out camping/exploring. Still keeping the Gazelle for situations unfavorable to a RTT & also keep a lightweight 3 man tent to set up if I want to establish residence at a campsite so nobody swipes my spot while I’m out on the trails. The tent also has crossbars(that I installed after these photos), so I’ll likely bolt on a 2nd pair of Pelican vault cases identical to the ones on my Prinsu. Lockable storage is pretty valuable once you’ve switched up from a secure tonneau cover to an open-air truck bed.

Also swapped out my set of (5) BFG KO2s for (5) Yokohama Geolandar MTs. KO2s are great tires but I figured since I was refreshing the rig & wasn’t long for new tires, might as well go for a different set of shoes too.








Prior to refresh

 

Damn same thing happened to me but it was a loose trailer. Just bought a gen 3 a couple weeks ago.

 

That’s a big reason why I installed the 3rd brake light with quick flashes before solid red. I have to make a right turn off the highway to my private road and I stare at the rear view mirror as I slow and turn. So many people are asleep at the wheel on these roads.

 

Putting off a resistor mod til later. 3 hour road trip. Wedding and a three hour trip home. Hyundai gets the nod. Taco isn’t quite the commuter these days.

 

Sante fe 2021. Not a bad ride.

 

Like you, I glance at the rear view mirror when coming to a stop and pump the brakes a few times. I do this especially when stopped and I'm the last car on a line of cars waiting for the light to change.

 

I find it really important to do this when you see you're approaching congestion from a crash or just heavy traffic hour. especially on a high speed road. So many people tailgate and have no idea what's going on in front or around them.

 

I didn't plan on doing this, fate intervened

A couple days ago I had looked at the thread where folks removed the black vinyl from the B pillars and I liked the look but I decided it was not worth the effort to do.

Well, removing my kayak from the roof rack yesterday changed that. Somehow I put a monster scratch down the B pillars and the silver scratch showing through the ripped vinyl was nasty looking. So, I removed the vinyl. Passenger side done, I'll do the drivers side later. The scratch is still there just not as noticeable. I still have a bit of adhesive residue to remove, that should come off easily with a bit of Naphtha or goo be gone.

 

Confirmed. Horrific. I would guess, I don't know, texting??

 

Just finished remove and replacement of passenger front body mount. Not as bad as drivers, but seems to be evidence of metal to metal contact so could have been a source of squeak. I think it took me about 30 minutes to replace.
14mm deep
14mm wrench
Screwdriver fender
10mm fender
22mm remove tire
Floor jack
Jackstands
Lighting
Silicone spray bushing in out help
Bottle jack

 

https://youtu.be/AjGXn249Fc0?si=UrjwsYRTiDr8p65J

 

What's that little blue truck tucked in your garage?

 

Installed the a/c drain extender kit you can get from Vorra65 over in the Marketplace (A/C drip mod kit….). If you're unaware of what this is, the a/c condensation drain from factory drains onto of your frame. What doesn't drip off ponds there, creating the potential for rust, or in my case living in the Rustbelt, more rust! This kit re-routes it to your desired location. Simple but intuitive idea, for sure will help long term. Thanks Bruce, nice job!!

 

- gadgets -

 

It belongs to a buddy of mine. 1964 Ford p/u on a Crown Vic chassis, bagged. It’s called Gumby.